WIWT Library Days: Style Tips for Exam Season

It’s that traumatic time of year...exam season. This means early mornings, late nights and spending every available hour of sunlight in the library. Generally at this time of year any sense of looking decent or fashionable goes out of the window because every scrap of energy is being used on staying awake and cramming all the information you can into you’re already over-filled brain. After years of having to go through this ordeal I have come up with a few tips to help dress quickly (can’t be wasting time on outfit choices), sensibly and yet still have an effortless style. An example of this is what I wore today, shown below:

Leggings: River Island
White Converse: Office
Stripey Top: TK Maxx
Hoody Top: Topshop
Leather Jacket: Thrift Shop
Scarf: Marks & Spencers
Iphone Case: Ebay

·      ♥  Layers: I don’t know about you but I find that libraries temperatures fluctuate hourly! You go in early in the morning and its freezing then by lunch time you feel like you have been transported to the Sahara desert. So layers are always a sensible idea so you are able to take off and put on accordingly throughout the day without being uncomfortable. Also we live in England, so you could leave the house and its sunny then by the time you get to the library a typhoon has hit…layers is always a good plan. Another tip is if you want to liven up your look a bit layer up with different patterns; it’s simple and yet effective. One of my favourite tricks is to wear a top with on pattern then instead of stressing over finding a jacket with an opposite yet complementing pattern just throw on a scarf with a pattern. It does the job well and doesn’t look too much at the same time.   

     ♥    Leggings, Disco Pants, Stretchy Pants: For exam season I find that leggings or any stretchy pants are an absolute god send. You are sitting around for potentially hours at a time and you don’t want to be stuck in some horribly tight, sweaty jeans while sitting in a hard, uncomfortable seat (sorry not much can be done do about the seat) but you can take the denim out of the equation. I find by wearing leggings you can eliminate the over heating element and generally I find they are just more pleasant to wear when sitting around all day in that they allow more movement and don’t restrict you like jeans do. On top of that by choosing a black pair of leggings you leave the option wide open for what you can wear with it as they pretty much go with anything BUT don’t fall into the trap that leggings are pants. THEY ARE NOT PANTS. Make sure you bum is well covered either by a dress, skirt, oversized shirt etc.  

·     ♥   Comfy Shoes (flats): The likely hood is that for those rare moments you are not chained to a desk, you are trailing around looking for the right resources to aid your learning. So you don’t want to wearing shoes that are hard to walk in! Keep it simple; a nice pair of pumps or quirky sneakers will do the job perfectly.  

       ♥   Big Bag: You don’t want to be that person who takes the smallest bag to the library then end up carrying hundreds pieces of papers and countless books around! Get yourself a bag that’s going to fit in everything you are going to need for the day; you can use a back pack or a big handbag (Zara have some beaut ones in at the moment!) I am using a Jansport back pack for all of my revision tools at the moment and I love it! I got it a few years ago actually from TK Maxx and it’s lasted amazingly and is perfect for those days when you are carrying loads around as it can hold everything you will ever need. Mine is just a plain denim colour but if you want something a bit more interesting they have released loads with bright, vibrant patterns on that will liven up any outfit. However be careful not to over fill any back pack being used as if you are carry around too much at once you may hurt your neck or back, so please be careful. 
 ♥    Water: Off topic I know but if you are going to be locked up revising for hours in a stuffy library make sure you stay hydrated. Take a bottle with you because most libraries will have water stations you can fill up at because a hydrated mind learns best. 

I hope this will help you survive the exam season and the stress that comes with bottomless amounts of revision! Good luck in any exams you have and if you have an questions don’t be shy to ask, Hann xxx

 

Sunday Haul

Primark Blouse £12.00

 Sunday mornings have to be my favourite time to go shopping; don’t ask me why but they are! The first shop I hit was Primark, still can’t decide if that was a good or bad idea. I bought a few things which my bank balance didn’t like…whoopsie.  The two things I have decided to write about are probably the things which I thought were best value for money and were the prettiest. The pictures above show the blouse I bought; I saw it the second I walked in and I had to have it! I have been looking for a new girly blouse for a while now and when I saw this it just fit the bill perfectly. It is very sheer so I also bought a grey vest to wear underneath it and the only other thing which was a bit of a problem was the size. I am normally a UK size 12 on the top but after trying on I decided to go for the 16 so if you decided to purchase this blouse I heavily suggest trying on before buying.

Cream Jumper £8.00

 Another item I bought from Primark has to be my bargain of the day; I love baggy woolly jumpers and for a while I have been looking for a creamy and not only did I find it but I found it for only £8! It has a lovely knit like look to it and just a simple gold zip on the back at the top of the neck. It is made of 100% acrylic but for £8 I can’t complain and it will get me through till it hopefully warms up a little. Again I went for a bigger size as I wanted it baggy and it is designed to be a fitted jumper so I went for a size 18 and it is lovely size for me. 

Boots Buys, Prices stated below

Next I hit Boots with the intention just to buy some new mascara. I am a creature of habit in that I have always bought the same mascara, Maybelline Great Lash in Very Black. I also do own other mascaras which I use for nights out and other occasions but the great lash is the best mascara I have ever used just for every day to day wear. It has a small brush which applies the right balance of volume and length perfect just for university, work or just a casual day out and at only £4.99 a tube it’s an essential buy.  However Boots had a buy one get one half price offers on all Models Own nail varnishes so I just had to buy some! Models Own has always been one of my personal preferences for nail varnishes so this offer had me weak at the knees. I bought a regular size (14ml) bottle of ‘Feeling Blue’ which is a lovely light blue colour which will look nice all year round, for £5. I also bought the ‘All That Glitter’ mini 3 pack which contained 6ml bottles of ‘Blizzard’, ‘Southern Lights’ and ‘Pink Fizz’. These are all just fun top coats to make any nails a bit more special and this pack was £8. 

Lush Baths Bombs £3.50 each

Since I just finished my exams last week I fell into the trap of Lush and came out with three bath bombs to help me relax. I haven’t used any of them yet so I will report back on when I do and what I think on them. Lush has to be one of my favourite shops not only because of the products but because of the general atmosphere of the shop. All of the staff are bubbly and helpful, also they are always playing good music so that helps. 

Moushtache Button Stickers £2.50

Finally I visited River Island, I find River Island much hit and miss in there lines and I fear this season to be a miss but I need to go back for a proper look before I make up my mind. I went in to buy a new pair of the Jumper Black Leggings which I have been a fan of for a few months now and also help avoid the bum on show problem which can occur when wearing leggings. But they weren’t the thing that pleased me the most; the thing which caught my attention were these little moustache stickers which are designed to go on the home button of iPod’s, iPhone’s and iPad’s. They were so adorable and at only £2.50 I had to get them and place on my phone immediately!

Thank you for reading and I hoped you enjoyed a small insight into my haul. I hope you found this interesting or helpful on what to buy this season. Hope you are all well, bye kittens!

Love Hann xx